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Final position — White is winning

Chess Opening

Wins a Pawn (Hengstler–Schlenker)

White wins in 10 moves with a decisive material gain. (Hengstler - Schlenker, Zavelstein 1976)

The moves

1.g4 e5 2.Bg2 h5 3.gxh5 d5 4.d4 e4 5.Bf4 Bd6 6.Bg3 Nf6 7.Qd2 Na6 8.Nc3 c6 9.Qg5 Rxh5 10.Qxg7 Bf8
1.g4e5
2.Bg2h5
3.gxh5d5
4.d4e4
5.Bf4Bd6
6.Bg3Nf6
7.Qd2Na6
8.Nc3c6
9.Qg5Rxh5
10.Qxg7Bf8

How the Wins a Pawn (Hengstler–Schlenker) works

The Wins a Pawn (Hengstler–Schlenker) is a classic chess opening trap. In this line White wins decisive material by move 10, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.

The full sequence runs 1.g4 e5 2.Bg2 h5 3.gxh5 d5 4.d4 e4 5.Bf4 Bd6 6.Bg3 Nf6 7.Qd2 Na6 8.Nc3 c6 9.Qg5 Rxh5 10.Qxg7 Bf8. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.

This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Hengstler - Schlenker, Zavelstein 1976). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.

Practice this trap move-by-move

Open the Wins a Pawn (Hengstler–Schlenker) in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.

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